Artist Spotlight: June- Outsider

Welcome to my Artist Spotlight, every month on my Asian Tour show (Wednesday's 3-4pm KCC Live) I select an musician or band and play tracks from their discography, and on this blog I'll be writing about the artist or band in question. This month's Artist Spotlight is Outsider from South Korea.

Outsider is perhaps one of the fastest rapper’s in the world his rapping speed is an astonishing 17 syllables per second (the current record held by Rebel X is 20 syllables per second). While rapping at a ridiculous speed, Outsider is unlike many speed rappers as he is able to pronounce each word he raps with clarity, something which he practices regularly and it is something his fans have commended though it does mean that he can’t afford to make many mistakes while rapping live.

Discovered by underground hip hop artist MC Sniper and signed to MC Sniper’s own label Sniper Sound, MC Sniper acts as Outsider’s manager. Outsider has currently released two E.Ps and two full albums Come Outside E.P (2004) Soliloquist (2007) MAESTRO (2009) and 주변인: The Outsider (2010).

The majority of the tracks are piano led with latter singles Alone from MAESTRO and Acquaintance from주변인: The Outsider features the inclusion of strings something uncommon from many hip hop tracks though some tracks do feature regular hip hop beats. The majority of tracks from Outsider’s records feature some of Korea’s best hip hop and RnB artists including Gil Me, Bizniz, K-Proud and MC Sniper. Outsider also collaborated with K-Pop artist K Will who also sang Alone with Outsider on one live appearance, managing to keep up with Outsider’s speed rapping.

Outsider's latest E.P.

Outsider’s most successful single to date is Alone which stayed in Korea’s charts for an astonishing 50 weeks, the song was an examination of the concept of being an outsider in reality, a theme carried over into Acquaintance.

Not only has Outsider recorded his own tracks but he has also featured on others including tracks from MC Sniper (Better Than Yesterday), Shin Tae Kwon (Happy Ending) and Gil Me (Love Is War). He also took part in the One Nation album from a sort of rap super group led by MC Sniper called Sniper Sound featuring some of the artists from the same record label as well as Kraziee Bone from American rap group Bone Thugs N Harmony, a group Outsider has wished to collaborate for some time.

Outsider is currently trying to improve his speed by increasing his lung capacity through jogging.

Five For Friday 11

5. Fact- Reborn (original version)
This is a more rawer version of a song the band did for their debut album, it's longer than the somewhat 'edited' version that appears on their debut album, I enjoyed hearing the last 2 minutes of this song which had been left out as it shows a softer side to an otherwise heavy track.

4. MC Sniper ft Outsider and Horan- Heart Disease
The thing I enjoy about this track is Horan's singing intermixing with MC Sniper and Outsider's rapping, as a collaboration it really works and the beat is fantastic.

3. Outsider ft Basick, Carry.D of Swagger
I've been on a bit of an Outsider kick this week after downloading the Korean rappers latest album Maestro and this track is by far one of the highlights for me, it's fast paced and has some of Outsider's trademark fast rapping.

2. Fact- Slip of the Lip
This song feels as though it is influenced by post hardcore bands from America, from the guitar sounds to the second set of vocals sounding deeper than the main vocals. It makes Fact stand out from the other J Rock bands out there.

1. Outsider- Alone/Loner
What struck me about this track first off was the strings, it gives the rap a more mellowed feel, until Outsider goes into his fast rapping in the second verse and its quite amazing how he can speed up his rapping and slow it down for the chorus, the backing track initially sounds out of place but surprisingly works well with the song.